Population by Race/Ethnicity

Population Characteristics

Population by Race/Ethnicity

What does this measure?

The change in population of a geographic area broken down by racial and ethnic groups since 2000.

Why is this important?

Population measures provide insight on the changing size and face of communities. Changes in the racial and ethnic composition of a community can indicate growing diversity, which can bring with it challenges and opportunities.

How is our region performing?

The 9-county Rochester region has become increasingly diverse since 2000. Between 2000 and 2012-16, the greatest increase of residents occurred in the group identifying themselves as Hispanic, which increased by 57%. Increases over that time were also substantial among the Asian (51%) and African American (12%) populations, in contrast to the 1% decline in the white population. Segments of the region's growing diversity reflect either state or national trends: growth in the Hispanic and African American populations are similar to the national trend, while the increase of Asian and decrease in white populations are aligned closely with the state trend over the same timeframe.

Notes about the data

The multi-year figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined five years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. However, because the information came from a survey, the samples responding to the survey were not always large enough to produce reliable results, especially in small geographic areas. CGR has noted on data tables the estimates with relatively large margins of error. Estimates with three asterisks have the largest margins, plus or minus 50% or more of the estimate. Two asterisks mean plus or minus 35%-50%, and one asterisk means plus or minus 20%-35%. For all estimates, the confidence level is 90%, meaning there is 90% probability the true value (if the whole population were surveyed) would be within the margin of error (or confidence interval).